After seeing the immense love for old classic shows such as Ramayan and Mahabharat, Public service broadcaster Prasar Bharti has launched DD Retro. The new channel will telecast all the old shows, which were quite popular during its time. The tweet read: "To relive the nostalgia of your favourite memorable serials of Doordarshan, watch DD Retro".
There has been a rerun of old shows on DD National in the wake of coronavirus lockdown, following which Doordarshan emerged as the most-watched Hindi channel. With the shoot of TV shows on halt and people locked indoors to break the COVID-19 chain, Prasar Bharti decided to bring back old shows on fans' requests.
For now, DD Retro is airing the same shows that DD National is telecasting. Apart from mythological epics Ramayana and Mahabharat, the classics revived include Chanakya and Upanishad Ganga by Chandraprakash Dwivedi, Shaktimaan featuring Mukesh Khanna, comedy-drama Dekh Bhai Dekh and Shriman Shrimati, Shah Rukh Khan’s Circus, Byomkesh Bakshi and others.
In the last two weeks since the Ramanand Sagar show Ramayan went on air, the 9am and 9pm slot viewership grew 60 times. Meanwhile, another mythological show Mahabharat which is being re-telecast at 12 pm and 7 pm has boosted viewership by 208 times.
Last month, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting directed all direct-to-home (DTH) platforms and cable operators to show all DD channels besides Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha channels as per the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act.
